• the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience.
"the philosophy of science"

synonyms: thinking, thought, reasoning
"the philosophy of Aristotle"

Quite literally, the term "philosophy" means, "love of wisdom." In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek
to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other. As an
academic discipline philosophy is much the same. Those who study philosophy are perpetually engaged in asking, answering, and arguing for their
answers to life’s most basic questions. To make such a pursuit more systematic academic philosophy is traditionally divided into major areas of
study.

Metaphysics
At its core the study of metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality, of what exists in the world, what it is like, and how it is ordered.

Epistemology
Epistemology is the study of knowledge. It is primarily concerned with what we can know about the world and how we can know it.

Ethics
The study of ethics often concerns what we ought to do and what it would be best to do. In struggling with this issue, larger questions about what is
good and right arise.

Logic
Another important aspect of the study of philosophy is the arguments or reasons given for people’s answers to these questions. To this end
philosophers employ logic to study the nature and structure of arguments.

History of Philosophy
The study of philosophy involves not only forming one’s own answers to such questions, but also seeking to understand the way in which people have
answered such questions in the past. So, a significant part of philosophy is its history, a history of answers and arguments about these very
questions.

I see philosophy as beyond science, in the sense that we are out there looking for and creating new sciences. Or we ask the questions that inspire
objective inquiry. Philosophers are at the very edge of human understanding chipping away at the walls, looking for more. Attempting to think about
things that are difficult to think about and the vast majority of people never go there. It requires extensive thought and it can be maddening, even.
Most of humanities leading scientists throughout history started as philosophers. Physics, psychology, biology, chemistry, etc... all started as a
philosophy.

My personal definition of Philosophy is; The thought of what can be thought about, and the thought of what cannot be thought about. The who, what,
when, where, how, why of everything that can be asked those questions of.

The process of thinking deeply about the world and the creations around oneself, and not being afraid to ask questions that examine or challenge the
social/political/ethical norms of the society in which the thinker lives.

For those interested, I created a thread a while back that helps introduce Philosophy
to those new to the topic.

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